The company promises that Windows 7 will be the best version of its operating system yet, critical acclaim has often eluded Redmond. We've decided to count down the ten best products ever to come out of Redmond, from DOS 5 to Flight Simulator and NT 4.0

Last week, in honour of the Windows 7 launch, we covered Microsoft's biggest successes in the computing field. This week, in the interest of balance, we're looking to the company's dark side..

We’ve examined the data from more than 8000 readers to reveal exactly what sort of reliability, customer service and satisfaction you can expect in 2007.

MACROMEDIA E-LEARNING STUDIO

The Internet is booming again, but this time it’s very different. PC Authority brings you up to speed with the global Web 2.0 phenomenon.

Still not sure whether it's worth upgrading to Vista? We put XP and Vista through the ultimate face-off.

In the age of Web 2.0, people are no longer looking to a single source for recommendations for information and entertainment on the ‘Net. It’s far better to have a collective recommendation, ranked by hundreds of like-minded people. How does it work? Read on.

We provide the commentary on a bruising eight-round battle between Vista and Tiger.

Keen to forget the PR nightmare that was Vista, Microsoft may have committed yet another blunder: Windows XP users will not be able to upgrade to Windows 7 without a totally clean install.

Once you go mobile, you won’t go back. We uncover the hardware, the plans and the services that’ll unshackle you from the office.

Useful new features and a total interface overhaul make this the best Office ever.

How did a vibrant palace of bargains and trust turn into a standoff between buyers and sellers? Part one of our major feature.

This week we examine a few of those true 'killer apps,' and what they have meant to computing

Want to break free from a Microsoft world? Leigh Dyer looks at the alternatives.

To help you find the best plan for your needs, we've split up users into the following common profiles and provided recommended plans for each. Note that many ISPs have more plans than we could list in the table. We chose to only include the plans from each ISP that were the most competitive compared to the rest of the industry. This means there might be a more suitable plan for you that we didn't list, so be sure to check out the complete range of plans from an ISP if you don't find a good fit.

Google's services suffer under the yoke of engineers.

Every industry has its share of villains, and the computing world is no different.